


Self Serving Seasons

by Greysnyper (Dangersocks)



Category: Batman (Comics), Justice League of America (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Elseworlds, Gen, I hate myself and like to make myself cry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-23
Updated: 2013-05-23
Packaged: 2017-12-12 17:58:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/814379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dangersocks/pseuds/Greysnyper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mommy's not dead, daddy's not dead, Brucie's not dead...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Self Serving Seasons

She had literally walked out of the foggy, rainy Gotham streets and into their family. It had likely been her charm which did them in. And she made a most wonderful nanny, reciting backwards rhymes easily and impressing the boy with the way she could bend spoons and make his toys disappear with simple commands.

The child was smitten.

"Now Ms. Giovanni," Thomas said, nearly at the end of her first day. "Don't go filling his head entirely with mysteries."

"Hush," consoled the wife, as she gave their nanny a smile which invited her to ignore him. "Brucie's still quite young. Let him be entertained by the mysterious."

And as Martha lead Thomas from the room, doting from his arm, she quietly added so only he could hear, "you shouldn't be so jealous because you cannot see through Ms. Giovanni's tricks."

"I am not jealous, woman," Thomas exclaimed, though keeping his voice at her volume--hushed. "I just don't want our son trying and failing to understand the mechanics behind them."

"Are you afraid that he'll fail?" cooed Mrs. Wayne. "Or that he'll be clever and succeed, thus losing the magic in the process?"

Their conversation had been meant for their ears alone, though not through any intention of keeping secrecy. Mrs. Wayne just enjoyed these private moments with her husband, where she could tease and poke until something was revealed in Thomas. It was those experiences that she'd always look back on and adoringly cherish.

And yes, the man was concerned over the loss of his son's innocence. She could hear it in his unwillingness to answer.

"My Dear, you are too much. Don't have regrets over hiring this woman to look after our son. I like her very much and I can feel that her intentions are good. It's a mother's instinct, Tom."

Thomas sighed, acknowledging that he had been starting to feel doubts over "Zee" Giovanni's appearance--though he too found himself fond of her. "I suppose you're right, as always."

Mrs. Wayne laughed, a light sound. "As always, hah! And do not worry about Bruce. If he fumbles to uncover the mysteries of the world, he will solve them eventually--but only when he's ready. Let him try and fail, and enjoy himself at it. That's how boys grow. When he succeeds, there will only be more mysteries to baffle him. I'm certain Ms. Giovanni could keep him on his toes and entertained for years." More intimately, she said, "I worry that figuring out the mechanics to those magic tricks will keep you up at night much more often than him."

Thomas Wayne snorted, and their private moment ended with the start of their lights-out routine.

Someone sighed, distanced from the cozy little Manor. So they would keep their nanny. This part of the plan would work. Guilt still reddened the listener's ears. Spying on the Waynes had felt wrong, even though he could justify it as an assurance of Zatanna's placement.

He had been indulging, and he knew better...

"Kal!"

The rainy, foggy weather of late had transformed into a rainy, windy spell. It took the outskirts of Gotham completely, and the tall grasses rolled with it. The wind carried the call, and from the cloud came a green glow.

Stewart felt as if he had to shout to be heard, but Kal could make out the call just fine.

"No luck?" Kal asked, waiting for a report.

"None," announced the Lantern. He made the brief droplets of moisture visible just by being there. Small specks of green would flicker in and out of easy visual range. If Kal tried hard enough, he could track their progress even beyond the ring's aura.

He used his senses to pick something else up. "Drop your aura immediately!"

John didn't understand the details like Kal could, but he obeyed. Instantly, they were two dark, indistinguishable shapes in the field. Stewart couldn't have heard the childish gasp, or the soft patter of feet moving across carpet.

Little Bruce's hands and nose pressed at his window. The boy would have believed himself imagining lightning, or glow bugs perhaps. Still too riled up after the changes in the house to go to bed this soon after lights out...

It gave Kal a warm feeling, and he belatedly noticed John staring at him.

"I get this," the Lantern said.

Kal turned his head to face the other and let his brows furrow. "Pardon?"

John shook his head. "I didn't come here to report that we've had nil on finding the guy. I came over here to get your help, which I thought would require pushing. You and Zee seemed dead set on taking up watch here. I understand that logic, since with you out here and Zee in there, nothing bad is going to happen. Nothing _will_ happen, though, Kal. Bad guy's not even here yet. Ring says it's more likely that we'll catch him as soon as he transports into this time-frame. And frankly, I agree with the ring."

"John," Kal sighed, speaking over the flap of his cape; the roar of the wind; the resigned sigh of a boy. "We just want to be prepared for anything."

John Stewart snorted, but his eyes trailed over to the stately house a good jog away. "Sure, Kal. Sure."

It was the type of tone that started becoming a challenge, or a dare. This is self-serving. You are being self-serving...

"Look, man," John slipped through tall grass to put a hand on Kal's shoulder. "We all want what's best for Bruce. I'm going to go join Diana again, and we'll narrow down where this guy's going to jump out of. Since we don't want him seeing us, freaking out and trying to go further back in time to erase any of us, I'm asking for _your_ help. Nobody's faster. Zatanna will look after the Waynes."

He was right.  John was right. "You're right," Kal found himself saying with some regret.

A quick, stolen glance showed a startlingly unfamiliar Bruce sitting in his sheets with a furiously puzzled look on his face. Zatanna was downstairs meditating by the fireplace. Thomas and Martha Wayne were sharing a bed, Martha snoozing and Thomas perusing a novel by an antique lamp.

Before making the trip, they had all agreed not to meddle in the affairs of the Wayne family. Even now, Kal understood that Zatanna could erase her presence once their mission is through, and he could restrain from the urge to burst into that upstairs room and making the Waynes promise not to die in front of their son. Easy, because he's smarter than that.

But being here, watching a more gentler, innocent scene. Even experiencing it seemed like Kal was prolonging the chances Bruce has to be happy. It's foolish, and Kal _knew_ better. He knew that watching that child and that happy, loving family almost made up for having to watch helplessly as Batman disappeared right in front of him.

~

"Zee, how did you do that?" He didn't ask with a demand, despite having grown up privileged with wealthy parents. It's only impulsive wonder. "Where do all the invisible things go?"

She smiled and it made her nose wrinkle. She poked his in reply. "The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible."

Her answers to him were often like this.

Bruce frowned, though he seemed reluctant to push further, feeling as if the answers were all like this because they _had_ to be. That direction of thought went deeper than he's willing to follow, so he asked her if positive thinking alone achieves those goals.

Zatanna marveled at the way the universe worked, even here and now. "You don't have to think positively to achieve these things. But the other way is harder."

Bruce nodded. He understood now.

Later, though...

 

Later will be a time and place not meant for the friends of Bruce Wayne.

**Author's Note:**

> (Written May 2009)


End file.
